But other Texas lawmakers, such as state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat and Presbyterian seminary student, blasted the bill as part of a “Christo-fascist movement.”
Biery appeared unmoved in his ruling by arguments such as King’s.
“There is also insufficient evidence of a broader tradition of using the Ten Commandments in public education, and there is no tradition of permanently displaying the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms,” the judge wrote. He also noted that public schools did not exist during the founding of the United States, and that when a state finally permitted public schools to hang the Ten Commandments in 1927, it was “immediately struck down.”
Other states have also taken up the cause — Louisiana passed a nearly identical law last year, as did lawmakers in Utah and Arizona — but their efforts have consistently been met with roadblocks. Utah lawmakers dialed back their version of the bill, which eventually passed, and the Arizona governor vetoed that state’s Ten Commandments bill. Louisiana’s law was immediately challenged in court and was deemed “plainly unconstitutional” by a unanimous federal appeals court in June.
Oklahoma has also introduced similar legislation, but the state’s superintendent, Ryan Walters, has taken a slightly different approach: Last year, he ordered public schools to keep a copy of the Bible in every classroom and incorporate Scripture into lesson plans. Educators have vowed to defy the order, however, and the measure is being challenged in court by a group of parents that includes a pastor.
This article originally appeared here.
, Judge Fred Biery, who was appointed in the Western District of Texas by former President Bill Clinton, said the law is “not neutral with respect for religion.”){kind=link}